Lopes limit Cal Poly to 3 hits in win

Saturday, February 24

(at USD) San Diego, Calif.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

2-3

Cal Poly

2-4

Cal Poly

Grand Canyon

2/24/2018 5:19:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Ortiz, Pavlica each record two RBIs

By: Josh Hauser

SAN DIEGO - The Grand Canyon pitching trio of Mike Lundin, Nick Ohanian and Ethan Evanko limited Cal Poly to three hits on the day as the Lopes opened their participation in the Tony Gwynn Legacy with a 5-1 victory over the Mustangs at Fowler Park on Saturday afternoon. Channy Ortiz -- in his first collegiate start -- and Preston Pavlica each logged two RBIs in the win.

In his second start in a GCU uniform, Lundin worked out of some tough situtations to limit Cal Poly to one run. The redshirt senior tossed 6.0 innings of two-hit baseball, walking three and striking out two.

"I thought he did a nice job competing," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "His ball has really good movement. He competed really well. He battled. He's an older guy who's been through the fire a little bit. We needed him to step up and do that as we move forward."

Stankiewicz pointed to a key situation in the sixth inning as a pivotal moment in GCU's victory. In the sixth, Lundin struggled with his control, hitting the first batter and walking the next on four pitches. But when Cal Poly attempted to lay a bunt down to advance the runners, Lundin calmly collected the baseball and threw out the lead runner.

"He did a nice job getting off of the mound and getting the out at third," Stankiewicz said. "That's a huge part of that game right there. It was a momentum shift back in our favor."

At that point, GCU was protecting a slim 2-1 lead. The Lopes tacked on three runs in the late innings to solidify the victory.

Cal Poly was the first to get on the scoreboard, scoring a single run in the second inning.

While it took some time for the Lopes to answer, they did so in the fifth inning. Tyler Wyatt placed a bunt perfectly and legged it out for an infield single. He moved to second on Griffin Barnes' sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Marc Mumper and Ortiz to string together back-to-back RBI singles. For Ortiz, it was the first of his career.

The Lopes padded the lead in the seventh when Wyatt again led off the frame with a single. Barnes sacrificed Wyatt over once again. Ortiz skied a ball to center for a sacrifice fly, scoring Wyatt, and picking up his second RBI in the process.

"He's a competitive little guy. He fights," Stankiewicz said. "He put some good at bats together. That big sacrifice fly was huge and that base hit up the middle. A freshman jumped right out there and got after it."

Pavlica put an exclamation point on the victory, hitting his first home run of the season. After Quin Cotton led off the inning by bouncing a single over the third baseman's head, Pavlica snuck a ball over the left field wall.

Cotton made it back-to-back three-hit games, dating back to Tuesday's contest against Washington State. Mumper also tallied three hits, the first such game of his career.

Nick Ohanian and Ethan Evanko combined for three scoreless, one-hit innings of relief behind Lundin.

Saturday's win continues a string of success against a solid Cal Poly program. Since 2016, the Lopes improve to 6-1 over the Mustangs.

The Lopes will play the nightcap of their doubleheader against San Diego at 7 p.m. MST.